r there's a
storm brewing, and it will be upon us before long. The mate and the boy
won't be able to manage the galiot alone, and she to a certainty will be
wrecked."

"A storm brewing, is there?" cried the Captain. "Well, then, the sooner
we land at Marken the better. Pull away, Pieter, pull away."

Pieter did pull, and in a short time the beach was reached. An old
fisherman, with a pipe in his mouth and a red cap on his head, came down
to see what the strangers wanted, as the Count and Baron stepped on
shore.

"Friend," exclaimed the Baron, "can you tell us where a good dinner is
to be obtained in a hurry, for we are famishing."

"A good dinner can undoubtedly be obtained in Marken," answered the
ancient fisherman with the red nightcap on his head; "but we are not
accustomed to do things in a hurry in our island. Poultry have to be
caught and their necks wrung, and the sheep have to be slaughtered and
skinned and cut up, potatoes have to be dug, and the other vegetables
gathered, the bread has to be made; but we have cheese, and you can eat
as much of that as you like."

"Plenty of cheese on board, we do not come on shore to obtain it!"
exclaimed the Baron. "Captain Jan Dunck, you have grossly deceived us;
you brought us onshore with the expectation of speedily obtaining a good
dinner."

"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the skipper. "I said nothing of the sort; I
undertook to land you, if you no longer wished to remain on board."

"But you led us to suppose that you intended to go yourself and obtain a
fresh supply of provisions at Marken," said the Baron with emphasis;
"and that is what we expected you to do."

"Then, Baron Stilkin, you are very much mistaken," answered the skipper.
"You left my vessel of your own free will, and you have landed on this
island of your own free will. I have fulfilled my engagement; if you
want a dinner you must go and find it as best you can. I heard what
Pieter was saying to you, and I intend to pay him off. Take up your
portmanteaus, unless the old fisherman will carry them for you, and go
your way; the storm, as Pieter observed, will be down upon us before
long, and I must put off and return to the galiot."

"I again say that you are treating us shamefully!" exclaimed the Baron.
"Pieter, my brave friend, will you stand by us?"

"Ja, ja, that I will," answered Pieter, who had stepped out of the boat.
"If the Captain likes to go off, he may go by himself."

The discussion